Weekly Update – October 1

College Football Update, October 1, 2018

The 2019 Allstate Sugar Bowl (January 1, 2019) will host the champions of the Big 12 Conference and the SEC unless either or both of those champions are selected for the College Football Playoff. If either of the champions do qualify for the playoff, a highly-ranked replacement team from the conference(s) will play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Teams for the 2019 Allstate Sugar Bowl will be announced on Sunday, December 2 via an ESPN national telecast.

Manning Award Stars of the Week
While 30 quarterbacks are on the Manning Award Watch List, every quarterback in the country remains eligible for the honor. Below are our selections for the top eight quarterback performances of the past week. Click here to be redirected to Facebook for voting.

Jake Browning, Washington (23-of-25, 277 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, QBR: 95.0)
Browning, who also runs for a touchdown, sets the Washington for all-time passing yards and breaks the school-record for completion percentage as the Huskies cruise to a 35-7 victory over No. 20 BYU.

Will Grier, West Virginia (27-of-41, 370 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 89.9)
Grier registers his fourth 300-yard game of the year as the Mountaineers go on the road to upend No. 25 Texas Tech, 42-34, in Big 12 action.

Marcus McMaryion, Fresno State (24-of-31, 368 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 95.2)
McMaryion, who also runs for a touchdown, posts his career-high for passing yards as he helps the Bulldogs erase an early deficit to cruise to a 49-27 win over Toledo.

McKenzie Milton, UCF (18-of-34, 328 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 94.3)
Milton also rushes for two touchdowns for his second straight six-TD game as the Knights extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 17 games with a 45-14 win over Pittsburgh.

Kyler Murray, Oklahoma (17-of-21, 432 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 99.2)
Murray also rushes for a touchdown to match the school record with seven scores as the Sooners crush Baylor, 66-33, in Big 12 play.

Jon Wassink, Western Michigan (27-of-42, 439 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 92.4)
Wassink, who tallies career-highs in yards and touchdowns, follows up a critical scramble for a 4th-and-10 conversion with a two-yard TD run with 2:53 to go to lift the Broncos to a 40-39 MAC road win over Miami.

SEC Players of the WeekKentucky linebacker Josh Allen was selected as the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Week for the third week in a row while LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was tabbed as the league’s Offensive Player of the Week. Allen totaled eight tackles, including career highs of four tackles for loss (-19 yards) and three quarterback sacks (-17 yards), caused a fumble and had a quarterback hurry. His sack in the third quarter was almost a safety and helped force a punt in the win over South Carolina.

Burrow, meanwhile, set career-highs for rushing (96 yards), passing (292 yards) and total offense (388 yards) in leading LSU to a 45-16 win over Ole Miss. He connected on 18-of-25 passes and accounted for four TDs (3 passing, 1 rushing) as the Tigers registered season-highs for points (45) and total offense (573) in the win over Ole Miss.

Did You See This?1 – Western Michigan trailed Miami (Ohio), 39-34, with under three minutes to go and faced a fourth-and-10 play when quarterback Jon Wassink scrambled for the critical first-down while taking a big hit before the goal line. Wassink was no worse for wear as he ran the ball in for the game-winning score.

6 – If Kentucky can remain undefeated with a win over Texas A&M (on the road) this weekend, it will mark the first team the Wildcats have been 6-0 since Bear Bryant coached them to a 10-0 start in 1950. Despite losing to Tennessee in the regular-season finale, that Wildcat team received an invite to the Sugar Bowl and shocked a dominant Oklahoma squad which had entered the game with a 31-game winning streak.

9 – UAB dropped its football program following the 2014 season. However, the program was resurrected for the 2017 season. Following Saturday’s 28-7 win over Charlotte, the Blazers have won all nine of their home games since their return to the field. That’s the longest home-winning streak in UAB history.

52 – Following its 56-14 blowout of the Ragin’ Cajuns, Alabama has now won 52 consecutive home games against unranked opponents. The next-best streak in the country is 26 straight such wins by Kansas State. Ohio State and Penn State have won 24 and 21 straight home games against unranked foes.

87 – Michigan fell behind 17-0 to Northwestern on Saturday and then proceeded to hold the Wildcats to a total of 87 yards over their final nine possessions. The Wolverines won the game, 20-17.